CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Ember Valen was famous for two things:

Her wildfire spirit

And her endless scandals.

She was a storm in human form.

She had cliff-dived off Amalfi’s highest rocks, raced stolen sports cars through neon Hong Kong nights, danced until dawn in Berlin’s rooftop clubs, and changed boyfriends as easily as changing outfits.

If there was a wild thing to do, she had done it.

Which was exactly why everyone was shocked when her family announced an arranged marriage between her…

And Alpha Ryker Hale—

The living textbook of rigidity and order.

Ember snorted when she heard the news.

“Trying to get me engaged? Try again.”

She meant it too—right up until her father cut off her credit cards, her motorcycles, and every one of her escape routes.

So, under protest, Ember agreed to meet the man she had already decided she would hate.

And, of course, she decided to make an entrance.

On the day of her engagement dinner, she went partying.

At midnight, Ember was onstage at a high-end underground club, stealing the mic from the singer and belting out an off-key rock song while the crowd roared.

Suddenly, the music cut.

The spotlight swung.

And there he was.

Ryker Hale—in human form, dressed in an ink-dark suit, icy eyes, and an expression that made the whole room go silent.

Ember blinked down at him from the stage.

“If you’re here to propose, try again later. I’m busy.”

She expected anger; after all, he was the most feared new Alpha.

But Ryker only stepped forward, offering his hand with a calmness that infuriated her.

“You’re bleeding,” he said softly.

Ember glanced at her knee—where she’d scraped herself sliding across the stage earlier—but before she could shrug it off, Ryker removed his jacket, wrapped it around her waist to cover the tear in her shorts, and lifted her off the stage as if she weighed nothing.

The crowd gasped.

Ember froze.

“What the hell are you doing?! Put me down!”

“You’re drunk. And injured. Keep quiet.”

His voice was quiet—too quiet, like a controlled storm.

“We’ll talk outside.”

She should’ve clawed his face.

Should’ve screamed.

Should’ve bitten him.

Instead, she found herself staring at the way his jaw flexed as he carried her through the crowd.

Outside, he set her on a bench.

His fingers brushed her knee—light, professional, gentle in a way that made her chest tighten painfully.

“Hold still.”

He disinfected and wrapped her wound with movements so precise that he looked handsome while doing so.

When he finished, Ryker stood straight, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve.

“You don’t need to perform for anyone, least of all me.”

He said, then paused to look at her with those black eyes that made her legs weak.

“You just have to be yourself. Whatever you want to do, do it. I will always be behind you.”

Something in her chest tightened painfully.

No one had ever spoken to her like that.

Not even her father.

“You want to marry me, Alpha Ryker? I’m afraid I’m a little wild and not fit for your perfect picture,” Ember said, looking straight into his eyes.

She didn’t believe that a man as controlled as him would marry her.

Not even if her father was so eager to.

But he only stood up, looked at her, smoothed her roughened hair, and said calmly:

“Ember, if you want to make the storm move, then do it. I’ll always be behind you to calm it.”

It wasn’t a love promise, yet it was something that made her heart hammer violently against her ribs.

In that moment, Ember knew she was doomed.

The almighty Ember may have fallen in love.

But later on, when Ember was forced to remember those words, she would laugh.

It sounded so ironic.

He went through all that trouble just to protect his first love.

Marrying Ryker hadn’t been the best experience for Ember, who loved partying and drinking.

Being married to Ryker Hale was like being married to a machine, which was totally a turn-off for Ember.

He woke at 5:30 a.m.

He exercised at 6.

He ate at precise intervals.

And he rarely touched her, except on scheduled days.

Even when she did something wrong,

He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t laugh, didn’t frown.

Nothing Ember did ever shook him.

She blared music at midnight.

He calmly handed her noise-canceling headphones.

She “accidentally” ruined his scheduled meals.

He simply cooked another.

She beat up some thugs who tried to harass her and ended up in prison.

He simply walked in a few minutes later and gave her his hand.

“It’s settled. Let’s go home.”

Any man would have been furious; any man would have been at least jealous, but he only calmly took her home and never said a word about it.

But Ember wasn’t about to give up. The fact that he was emotionless only fueled her determination to challenge the core of his controlled emotions.

One day, she sat on his lap while he was in a meeting, dressed in nothing but thin lace lingerie, her hair dripping from the shower she had just taken.

Any man would at least react.

Any normal man would lose control.

But Ryker simply paused his typing, looked at her dripping hair, and without a word, draped his suit jacket over her shoulders.

“Ember,” he said in that maddeningly calm tone, “you’ll catch a cold.”

Ember wanted to scream.

She wanted to yell.

A cold.

Not “What are you doing?”

Not “I want you.”

Not even a damn spark of desire.

She leaned in purposely, her lips brushing his ear.

“Do I distract you?”

“You can stay,” he murmured, eyes still on the laptop, “as long as you’re comfortable.”

Ember stared at the man who hadn’t even stared at her body.

As long as you’re comfortable?

He didn’t even stare at her,

Nor did he compliment her.

Ember knew she was beautiful.

She knew she was sexy.

And the fact that her husband wasn’t moved by her was something Ember wouldn’t accept.

With a click, she closed the laptop and sat comfortably on his lap.

“Well, since that’s the case, let’s do something more exciting.”

Ember said, tracing her tongue from his mouth down his collarbone.

“Mmmh… what do you say, Alpha Ryker?”

She said, her pretty eyes seductive, her face flushed red.

Any man would definitely fall for her seduction.

But Ryker simply draped the jacket back on her shoulders.

“It’s late. Go get some sleep.”

Ember stared at him in anger.

Angry, she stood up and threw the jacket at him.

It was official—the cold, handsome Alpha Ryker wasn’t born with emotions.

Getting back to her room, she threw herself on her bed, still fuming in anger.

Just then, she heard his car driving out hastily.

Picking up her phone, she saw his text.

“Went for urgent business. Will be back late. Make sure to sleep early.”

After reading it, Ember scoffed.

Here she was, trying hard not to die from anger,

Yet he had the guts to attend urgent business.

Ember changed into her nightwear. Just when she wanted to sleep, her best friend Pearl called her.

“Ember! Come to Moonlight Clubhouse. Your husband is making a mess here.”

Pearl’s voice crackled through the phone, loud enough to make Ember wince.

Ember shot up from the bed so fast her vision blurred.

“What did you say?”

A clubhouse?

Didn’t he go for urgent business?

What was he doing in a clubhouse?

“He’s actually beating up eight men who touched a woman.”

Huh?

Beating people up?

The last she knew, Ryker never stepped foot in a clubhouse except the day he got engaged to her, of course.

He never beat people up.

And now he was doing all this for a woman.

Ember was already out the door with her jacket in her hand.

“Send me the address.”

In a few minutes, she was already in a car, speeding off to Moonlight Club, anger crackling beneath her skin like wildfire on gasoline.

Ryker Hale had the audacity to ignore her.

Reject her.

Treat her like a roommate…

But he had time to go to a club with another woman?

Fury burned inside her.

But the moment she stepped inside the club, she was left dumbstruck.

Ryker was on his knees, holding a trembling, innocent-looking girl dressed in a white floral gown.

While a bunch of thug-looking men lay wriggling on the ground in pain.

No doubt they had been beaten up.

“Ryker… those men… I’m scared… I thought… I thought you wouldn’t come… they tried to touch me,” the girl cried while clinging tightly to his arm.

Ryker’s face darkened when he heard that, but when he turned to look at the girl, his face was full of tenderness, love, and worry.

He planted a kiss on her head.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Ember stared at him in shock.

In just a few minutes, she had seen the emotions she had craved for years, only to see them directed at another woman.